Xuanzang was born in the late Sui Dynasty, and his common name was Chen Yi. He was born in a scholarly family and received a good education from an early age. Unfortunately, life is impermanent. At the age of five, my mother died. At the age of ten, my father died. Later, when Xuanzang was eleven years old, he studied Buddhist classics with his second brother who became a monk in the temple.

Until 13 years old, he officially became a monk in Luoyang Jingtu Temple, with the legal name Xuanzang. When Xuanzang became a monk, it was the Sui Dynasty. At that time, there were very strict requirements for monks to become monks Only those talented people can be chosen to shave.

Later, because of the war, Xuanzang left the temple and traveled around. In this process, Xuanzang found that there were many differences between Southern Buddhism and Buddhism spread to the north, and he could not prove who was right or wrong, so he came up with the idea of going to Tianzhu to learn from the scriptures.

During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, the government prohibited private individuals from going abroad casually. All entry and exit must be approved by the state. In August 627, Xuanzang applied to the imperial court to leave the country, but was rejected. Xuanzang, who was determined to travel westward, was caught among businessmen, walked out of Yumen Pass and embarked on the road of traveling westward alone. That year, Xuanzang was twenty-eight years old.

Xuanzang cut off water for four days and five nights in the extremely dry desert, which is incomparable to ordinary people in normal environment. So at this time, Xuanzang felt that his life would probably come to an end.

Therefore, according to historical records, he deliberately sent a message to the Bodhisattva: Xuanzang's trip did not seek financial gain or fame, which was the supreme Buddhism. It is bitter to look up to the bodhisattva and care for the masses. Why don't you know?

The meaning of this passage is: Xuanzang did not seek fame in my trip, and he did not cherish the interests. I just pursue the supreme Buddhism. Bodhisattva, you should save the suffering and protect all beings. I'm too difficult to get along with. Don't you know bodhisattva?

After many hardships, Xuanzang finally arrived at Nalanduo Temple in Tianzhu. Nalanduo Temple was the highest place to learn Buddhism in India at that time, where the elder Jie Xian was knowledgeable and admired by the audience. Xuanzang worshiped Master Jiexian and followed him to learn Buddhism.

After studying here for five years, Xuanzang not only listened carefully, but also greedily read all kinds of scriptures hidden in the temple, and achieved excellent results, becoming a famous first-class Buddhist in Tianzhu. Xuanzang is not complacent. Later, he roamed the east, south and west of India, visiting holy places and visiting famous teachers. After more than two years, I returned to Nalanduo Temple. Master Jie Xian asked him to give a lecture in the temple.

India's Sun Ring King held an unprecedented academic debate in Gunnvcheng (now Kaliji, Uttar Pradesh, India). Xuanzang read out his paper written in Sanskrit at the meeting. Xuanzang's incisive exposition amazed everyone. During the 18 day meeting, no one refuted his argument. Xuanzang enjoyed a high reputation in India because of the group women's city conference.

Xuanzang has been away for a long time, and his yearning for the motherland is becoming more and more urgent. King Jerzy has been reluctant to let Xuanzang leave. He is willing to give him glory and status, something that ordinary people want all their lives. However, Xuanzang knew what he wanted. This is a long journey to the west, not just to solve your own doubts. He wants to go back to his hometown and tell the people there to help them solve their problems.

Seventeen years after bidding farewell to his native land, Xuanzang returned to Chang 'an again. Emperor Taizong personally met Xuanzang, and repeatedly suggested that Xuanzang should be secularized to help him handle state affairs. . But in Xuanzang's view, what he wants to do is to translate Buddhist scriptures, not anything else.

Translating Buddhist scriptures is a very energy-consuming thing. 19 years later, Xuanzang has been immersed in translating Buddhist scriptures, and with the help of his disciples, he wrote a book, The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang. Xuanzang also translated China's Laozi into Sanskrit. Xuanzang translated 75 classics, with classics 1335 volumes. This is an amazing number.

However, the arduous journey to the west in his early years and the complicated translation work all the year round have greatly damaged Xuanzang's health. In 664 AD, after Xuanzang translated five spells, he sensed that his time was coming, so he stopped translating. In February of the same year, Xuanzang passed away.

Extended data:

Tang priest's road to learning from the scriptures

Xuanzang's westbound route passes through Hami, Gaochang and Qiuci, crosses Tianshan Mountain, reaches Suyecheng, exits the iron gate, crosses Zhahe River, crosses the snow-capped mountains and enters northern India. When he crossed 800 miles of desert, there was not a drop of water for four days and four nights. But Xuanzang made up his mind and vowed: "I would rather die one step west than live one step east", and finally ventured tens of thousands of miles west to India.

Xuanzang, with 657 Buddhist scriptures, went north through Pakistan today, crossed the Pamirs through Afghanistan, returned to China along the southern line of Tarim Basin, and returned to the capital Chang 'an two years later. Xuanzang traveled 50,000 Li, 18 years.

Looking at the route of Tang Priest's scriptures, netizens wondered why Tang Priest didn't enter India directly from Tibet or Yunnan. In fact, this has a lot to do with the social situation at that time.

1, Tang Yan didn't have a map of the world at that time. Before Columbus discovered the New World, people had a one-sided understanding of the geographical position of the world. I still remember that the Opium War had started, and Daoguang also asked such questions as "Is there a dry road from England to Xinjiang", not to mention the Tang Dynasty, which was nearly a thousand years earlier than the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Tang Priest really didn't know how to walk in a straight line.

2. When Yunnan and Tibet were in the Tang Dynasty, most areas were uncivilized or unknown, with few people and few roads or no roads. If the Tang priest can climb Mount Everest and then come down from the other side of the mountain and enter southern Tibet, he will really be a fairy.

On the other hand, although the road taken by Tang Priest seems far away now, it was a very mature route to India in ancient times, and it was also proved to be a feasible route to India, because this route is exactly the same as the Silk Road, which has been in business for thousands of years since the Han Dynasty.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-Xuanzang